Monthly Archives: May 2006

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I had a dream last night that England were drawing 0-0 with Germany in the World Cup. Michael Owen came off after an hour and our very own Theo Walcott scored a beauty into the bottom left corner for the winner! Yes, as you might have gathered there isn’t much going on with Arsenal at the moment with the WC only 10 days away. Still need to get my England shirt with Walcott on and those cheap England car flags won’t buy themselves… So much to do and so little time. Sort of…

The only real ‘news’, if you can call it that, is that Wenger is linked to the Real Madrid vacancy. Again. Apparently he is an ‘outside bet’ behind favourite Michael Laudrup and Fabio Capello.

Well all I can say that Premiership news is slow recently and this is a load of crap. Arsene has repeatedly said he’s going to see his contract out until at least 2008, and has strongly hinted that he might stay on even longer than that.

And then of course you have the arguement that Real only keep managers for about 6 months so Arsene is unlikely to join a club that has this kind of policy. Not exactly job security is it?

There are also ramblings that Sol could be going to Fulham after the World Cup, which would be a good move for all concerned if actually true. Fulham are probably one of the few clubs that could afford his wages and it’s not far to go for Sol so he’d probably be up for moving on. The other team that is linked is Newcastle. Quick frankly I don’t care where he goes as long as he’s not wearing an Arsenal shirt next season. Harsh? Probably.

On to tonight and England play against Hungary at Old Trafford in a WC build up game – just hope Theo gets a decent run out. And that’s pretty much it!

Well all Arsenal fans knew it was going to happen for a while now but it has finally been confirmed that Bobby has finally left the club and moved on to Villarreal. And I for one wish him all the best.

With Rosicky arriving only a couple of days ago the writing was on the wall. Pires wanted that 2 year deal but Arsenal wouldn’t give it to him and now he’ll be riding on the Yellow Submarine. With Rosicky, Reyes, Freddie, Hleb, Van Persie and even Theo Walcott playing in similar areas of the field Pires was always going to find it hard to play many games. Even this season his appearances have been considerably less than of previous campaigns.

But Arsenal fans will remember Robert Pires with great affection, and he has been a big part in our Premiership and FA Cup triumphs over the last 6 years.

What I will remember most from Bobby is the that phenomenal goal he scored against Aston Villa in the 2001/2002 double winning season, and the goal that won us the FA Cup in 2003.

And I will also remember the tackles that led to Arsenal scoring huge goals. The first was in the unbeaten season, when Pires dispossessed Makelele at Stamford Bridge and fed Bergkamp. The Iceman then played in Vieira with an exceptional pass who slotted the ball past Sullivan and kept our unbeaten run alive. The second was the amazing tackle on Patrick Vieira at Highbury, which led to the Cesc Fabregas goal against Juventus.

Brilliant stuff.

But he has contributed so much more to the club and was Thierry Henry’s wing man – and an integral part of the lethal left side of Arsenal.

And he was a big player in the invicibles team of 2003/3004.

Pires made 284 appearances and scored 84 goals. 84 goals!

That’s 14 a season!

An excellent return for a midfielder, and even more impressive with the fact that he didn’t play many games last season. Who else except Lampard or Gerrard score that many goals?

And to make a comeback from the serious cruciate knee ligament damage he sustained in 2002 was a show of his character and determination this guy has.

Being substituted in the Champions League Final after only 18 minutes was a sad was to leave Arsenal, but we will always be grateful for the contribution you have given the club over the years.

Well the transfer dealings of Arsenal have really stepped up and even though the season is only just over and the World Cup is only a couple of weeks away Arsenal have confirmed the signing of 25-year old Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky.

Rosicky is quoted as saying:

â€œIâ€™m really happy to be here at Arsenal, it is a great day for me. The team showed its strength recently in the Champions League and it has big potential with a lot of young players, I think we can be even better next season. This is the best club in Europe and I will give everything for Arsenal.â€

According to reports Arsenal triggered the clause in Rosicky’s contract which is estimated to be around the Â£6.8 million mark.

Arsenal’s new Czech mate (sorry!) has a knack of scoring goals against Arsenal, for both Dortmund and Spart Prague. Let’s hope he’s brought his scoring boots to Arsenal!

It is a big signing for us and hopefully will be the start of a few big names coming to Arsenal this summer.

It does put a big question mark over the future of Bobby though.

I haven’t really seen Rosicky play to be honest but people are saying that he plays on the left side of midfield. I’ll be watching him at the World Cup now though!

Pires has been courting clubs like Benfica, Villarreal and even Juventus in the past so we’ll have to wait and see what Wenger wants to do with our very own Dâ€™Artagnan. The problem is for Bobby is that we have Reyes and Freddie who can play on the left so unless Arsene thinks he can give us something in the middle of the park he is probably gone.

And don’t be surprised if Arsene pulls out another rabbit out of the hat and brings in another player just before the World Cup starts on June 9th…

The only real proof offered is that of a Fenerbahce website which is NOT official, but just a Fenerbahce fansite.

When I first heard the news I was pretty shocked, for several reasons. First of which why on earth would Sol Campbell go to Turkey? I personally don’t think he’d want to move there of all places!

Secondly, my understanding of Henry staying was that Arsenal would try and keep Bobby, Cole and Sol for experience next season. Off loading Sol seems unlikely, especially since Arsene Wenger has been supportive of him throughout the season.